It doesn't give you HIV

Bunnyefey

Theres a fanclub? Get out, sign me up!!!!!!!!!!!

Deadwing

Lenny wrote:

While on the subject about HIV
My mate got this txt last night off a girl he was with a little bit back

"I've just been tested for hiv and I've tested positive, I've been advised to tell you to go get checked"
now that is scarey

That is scary Lenny

Chinafoot

well my part time job in texaco is just fantastic!! What písses me off is :
€55 for 8 and a half hours (work it out), a boss who is totally minted but refuses to up the wages, when i caught people shoplifting he pointed out everything i *should* have done and i got no "well done" or anything like that when i caught the gits, the boss's insistence on placing a charge on the credit and subsequently the customer's insistence on giving me shít about it, rude taxi drivers, grannies convinced you gave them the wrong change despite the fact that you still have the note they gave you in your hand, and obnoxious little 15 year olds calling you a cúnt cos you wont give them smokes!
BUT
it pays for a night out and its only a bloody job. if i hated it that much i could always leave......but everyone needs to have a little rant every now and then.
and on the up side by dickhead boss got caught for having underage workers and was fined €1904! CLASSIC!

elivsvonchiaing

impr0v wrote:

So you want everyone to acknowledge everyone they meet? Do you have that much time to add to your day? To enquire as to whether the post man is having a good day, did he see the football last night? Hello, Mr. bus driver, nice weather today isn't it, how are your two kids?

For one that's an unrealistic expectation, and it's also very hard to reconcile with the other thread with people outlining their social ineptitude and neurotic inability to stand in an elevator with another person in case they might have to make idle conversation.

I for one don't think it's ok for people to disrespect others, but one is on an uphill battle if they think they are going to convert the masses to proper courteous behaviour, they're way too far gone, especially if the chosen method of re-education is to disrespect them in turn.

Yeah. I concede I was talking sheit here based upon fond memories of an Island community I used to live in - which really is completely irreconcilable with our society.

What I had forgot was that this friendliness was sometimes quite annoying; also the Island has two mental hospitals and just one general hospital.

jesus_thats_gre

It seems that shop assitants have only stopped packing your bag every since we started paying for bags.. Strange.

Paladin

Worked in a hotel as a barman/waiter and in the nightclub attached to the hotel. (Also worked in a shop for a small amount of time).

Trust me, packing a bag for the ignorant public doesnt compare to dealing with the cúnts when they are drunk.
No comparison whatsoever.

Sleipnir

I always say please and thank you but there are also those shop assistants who don't even acknowledge your presence. I hate that.
"Morning, 20 euro on pump 5 and this coke"
"20.85"
"There ya go. thanks"
"Next!"

Or the ones who chat away to the person next to them while the transaction is occuring. They don't even look at you.

You don't say please or thank you then neither will I. If you do, then I will too.

Unpossible

anyone here work/use a local corner shop? There are two near my house, one being part of a petrol station, the other having been for longer than I remember. The petrol station staff are friendly but I suspect that they have to deal with all the above mention "Sheet" and have a lot of off days as a result. The staff in the other shop though are way nicer and seem to have a nicer time, then again these people are locals of the community whereas the petrol station people are not. Plus the staff members have been there for years.

Maybe places like the second shop are the way forward?

Slutmonkey57b

Searrard is quite right with the bar post. The worst bar customers though are the ones that take a minor issue and make a big deal out of it because they're looking for a freebie. I'd love to be able to call them out on it direct but the best method is just to get more and more polite as they get more and more worked up - particularly when they're hoping to insult you into making a mistake. The more obnoxious they get the more polite I get until they slip up and get rude, at which point I refuse to continue dealing with them and dismiss their complaint. (heh)

By FAR the most satisfying though is if you can quietly tip their gf/wife off to the fact that you know what a cheap lying **** they are and that you know the game they're playing. Let her get embarrassed and she'll lash him out of it for you later.

Funny thing is it's always the middle class that pull the freebie stunt. Sad really.

munkeehaven

one of my friends found money in a bag of crisps.isnt that weird?

Victor

impr0v wrote:

if you're representing an establishment, and getting paid to do so, then you should do it and smile.

If service + smile - nasty public > pay

What do you expect

billy the squid

If you dont like working with the public then find a different job in a factory or something.

The public have their own problems they dont really care if you had a bad day or not.

Steven999

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

. I'd love to be able to call them out on it direct but the best method is just to get more and more polite as they get more and more worked up - particularly when they're hoping to insult you into making a mistake.

a while back i was in a bar/nightclub and one side of the bar was being totally neglected as there was masses of people trying to order simultaneously and the 5 or 6 barguys were only working the 2 sides of the 3-sided counter .

So anyway after like 15 mins of waiting on the neglected side one of the 20 peeps waiting there said ever so politely to one of the barstaff , " Excuse me , i just wanted to say that no-ones being served here"
To which the barguy replied ," I'm sorry but you must be confusing me with someone who gives a ****." and there's me standing there lmao coz i had just spend all day seeing polite workers being ever-so polite with idiotic , bad-tempered, foul-mouthed customers .

I was amazed to see the guy let rip . I know the guy who asked the Q didn't do anything wrong but it felt like a tiny misdirected piece of justice .

jesus_thats_gre

Sleipnir wrote:

Or the ones who chat away to the person next to them while the transaction is occuring. They don't even look at you.

The height of rudeness. This was pretty much something that women mainly do in my experience... Thinking back to my time in Tesco, I couldn't count the amount of time I remember seeing two girls I worked with just chatting away while blatantly ignoring the customer.

Finally, whats the the big ****ing deal about packing a bag? Your job title is shop assistant, this means tending to the day to day needs of the shop and the customer. Do you also expect the customer to put the stock up on the shelves or is this actually part of your job description?

I can't imagine a shop assistant having a set job description. I bet if you checked your contract (if you even have one), it will have specific tasks topped off with "and whatever other day to day tasks required". This can be interpreted a number of ways, my favourite is:


know your place b!tch!

yaledo

I think Santahoe said something similar a couple of pages back, if i'm dealing with anyone who is doing their job at the time, i always do my best to be courteous and friendly - whether they are or not. some of the time they don't respond in kind, that's fine, maybe they're having a bad day, maybe they are just a bolliks, but it doesn't cost me anything to be friendly and courteous, but all in all they are more likely to reciprocate. When they do reciprocate, I feel fuzzy and warm inside, and so do they. This can change getting 20 purple and a packet of blue extra from a chore to an enjoyable experience. Something I was never taught in school, but now consider very valuable knowledge is the power of a smile.
When I was working security, i was often in a position where i could let people skip the queue without delaying anyone else, or causing any harm to anyone. Take the galway races - an unbelievable quantity of toffs for the day demanding preferential treatment, it was a great source of pleasure to me to tell them nicely to feck off, while the people that were courteous, and spoke to me as though i was a human always got preferential treatment when i was in a position to give it. I think pushy people sometimes get further by being pushy. But not if I have anything to say about it.

Jamesobrady

Actually...interesting point made about the comparisons between those of us posting here and on the social interaction thread. Well noticed that man.
I hadn't thought of it but there are times when you're so wrapped up in yourself you forget to acknowledge people genuinely. It happens me in work occasionally when someone passing through or new takes the bother to stop me and introduce himself but im en-route to make a call or something and am practicing the conversation in my head and am in my own little world with it.

I imagine the person gets a shocked-wild-eyed stare and a "sorry, you're what now?" when they say hello.

Although benefit-of-the-doubt only covers so much on a day to day basis...definately doesn't cover the lithuanian girl working in Londis in Maynooth who intentionally put mayonaisse in my roll because she doesn't like my friend ....i was on the motorway Sligo-bound fore i noticed....and by noticed i mean took a bite and got a mouthful of chicken and mayo....i hate mayo...nearly puked. This sounds insane...but she did it on purpose....she knows me to see and i get rolls in there quite a lot...incidentally i used work there ! The worst part is i couldn't turn around and replace it.....motorway!
Note....the other latvian and lithuanian girls in that shop are lovely...she's the exception! Also, its a crap place to work. Never work for a family business.

I can't imagine how anyone works in a bar in this country.....can't express my condolences any more than that im afraid! People who will spend an obsurd amount of money on cigs and alcohol then turn around and give out about petrol going up or down a few cent per litre.....remember to point out to them that the bottle of water they buy costs more per litre then petrol does....usually shuts them up and makes them feel silly.

Deadwing

I worked in tesco for over a year, and tbh, when someone was rude or ignorant to me, id be rude and ignorant back. Call this an unfair generalisation if you will, but all memebers of the general public are scum. At least when they go shopping they are. If someone can be bothered making the effort to be polite to me, i had no problem smiling and being polite back. But theres nothing more ignorant than when some bastard throws an item at you, puts his/her money down on the counter (wont even do you the courtesy of handing it to you, in case they catch some incurable disease), and then not even a please or thank you. Its very easy for someone whos never worked with the public to say 'well its your job to serve the public, so quit your bitching and do it'. Id really love to stick those people on a checkout in tesco for an afternoon, and make them deal with the utter scumbags we used to get, and see how fucking jolly they are at the end of the day.

Sleepy

In fairness, I think this is more an issue with Irish people in general. I've worked in loads of positions dealing with the public and I always tried to be nice to people. That said, if someone got thick with me I usually got thick back. We've lost our manners as a people and it's a sad day when we expect people to act in the manner described in this thread.

irlirishkev

Santahoe made some good points about how you become more polite yourself after suffering at the hands of the general public...

I'm heading into year 6 working in phone support. As a result, I am one of the nicest people you will ever deal with on the phone. Same thing when I'm buying something in a shop. I don't think I've ever been rude, or disrespectful, as a customer.. because I know how it feels to be on the receiving end. I'm also first to give out to friends or family if they start getting high and mighty on the phone or in shops..

All you ask for is a little bit of respect, and the acknowledgement that you too are a human being.. I don't think it's too much too expect..

K.

Stephen

This thread reminds me of the three years I spent working in a poxy fu<king statoil. As has been said already - be nice to people and they're generally nice back. I always tried to be polite and helpful but you always get some arseholes who come in with a bad attitude and I can't be arsed treating them nicely.
There's always some dickhead who wants to skip the queue so he just walks past the 5 people in front of him, throws 20 euros at you for his petrol and grunts, then ****s off out the door.
Glad I don't have that job any more!!
I worked as a security guard after it, a much better experience (industrial security, rather than retail, which sucks donkey balls). As it was an industrial site, everyone you meet is either an employee, contractor or some kind of visitor rather than members of the general public, so everyone treats each other with respect and it makes the job very pleasant.

ixoy

Stephen wrote:

This thread reminds me of the three years I spent working in a poxy fu<king statoil....
There's always some dickhead who wants to skip the queue so he just walks past the 5 people in front of him, throws 20 euros at you for his petrol and grunts, then ****s off out the door.

Yup. I had that experience too, also working in Statoil. Or how about those who come in and go "your boss knows me" and expect preferential treatment? They're annoying too. I don't know that your boss knew them.

I'm never rude to shop staff because I hate if others are rude to me. I sometimes might be a bit lost in thought - I tend to do that - but I'd never be so blantatly ill mannered as to chat on the phone whilst handing them cash. How ignorant. Having said that it seems there's plenty of rude people working in the shops as well who have little tolerance levels for the smallest thing. And no amount of defending can work for those shop assistants who just chat to one another and ignore you as they take your goods. Being courteous costs nothing.

However, I was made to wonder just how rude we are these days recently. I was on my way to the cinema, near Abbey Street when the usual charity worker came up to me. I was in a rush so I just hurriedly said, "I'm sorry but I'm in a rush," to excuse myself, as manners would dictate when someone spoke to you. He then said to me, "You know you're the first person to say that all day" [i.e. apologise in any way]. So everyone else just walked straight by and completely blanked him even when he spoke to their faces? If that's an example of how rude people often are then I can understand some people venting here.

impr0v

ixoy wrote:

However, I was made to wonder just how rude we are these days recently. I was on my way to the cinema, near Abbey Street when the usual charity worker came up to me. I was in a rush so I just hurriedly said, "I'm sorry but I'm in a rush," to excuse myself, as manners would dictate when someone spoke to you. He then said to me, "You know you're the first person to say that all day" [i.e. apologise in any way]. So everyone else just walked straight by and completely blanked him even when he spoke to their faces? If that's an example of how rude people often are then I can understand some people venting here.

If someone interrupts my train of thought or invades my personal space, uninvited, as I am walking down the street minding my own business, in order to 'sell' me a direct debit to help the disaffected donkey sanctuary or some other such worthy cause, I think the rules are different. There are obvious arguments to be made for courtesy between the two players in a shop assistant and customer interaction, as they have to communicate some information to each other to carry out the transaction which they both want to take part in. However, if you are aggressively targeting me in an environment where I have no defense from your assault except a brush off, or even silence, then that's what you are going to get. It's not a personal insult to the person, it's a refusal to accept the methods employed. It's well known to the people who send these foot soldiers to the front line that, with a good salesman, to enter into an exchange of dialogue is the first step to being signed up.

The confrontational assault on the high street is not a good way to interact with people, especially for trying to sell them charity donations, and I don't think it's altogether right to criticise people for not stopping to ask if the salesman's/volunteer worker's shoes are hurting him/her.

And again there are parallels with the social phobias of people, the majority don't like to be approached on the street by a stranger, it makes them nervous. Some will react to this by signing up, or giving some money in order to end the liaison as soon as possible (as again, the marketeers know well), others will just ignore the person attempting to engage them.

impr0v

Victor wrote:

If service + smile - nasty public > pay

What do you expect

If ( pay + job satisfaction < pain of nasty public) {
        leave;
}
else {
        stay = service + smile;
}

fuzzy logic.

Trebor

impr0v wrote:

If someone interrupts my train of thought or invades my personal space, uninvited, as I am walking down the street minding my own business, in order to 'sell' me a direct debit to help the disaffected donkey sanctuary or some other such worthy cause, I think the rules are different.....

couldn't agree more. if i want to donate money to a charity i will go to the bother of finding out how to donate, i do not need a group of people on grafton street stopping me to ask for money, and i usually get stopped by all of them because they are so spread out!!!!

having worked in a pub/retail store/on the phones i can agree with the statement that the general public are w@nkers.

each one has left their scars:
pub left me with no desire to drink alcohol (i see this as a plus others see me as a dry ****e)
retail store left me with the knowledge of what sales managers are willing to do to make a profit!
call centre left me unable to hold a conversation on the phone, i personally can't stand talking on the phone now and tell my friends to text me.

i have no respect for staff that show no respect for me.

Karl Hungus

Trebor wrote:

couldn't agree more. if i want to donate money to a charity i will go to the bother of finding out how to donate, i do not need a group of people on grafton street stopping me to ask for money, and i usually get stopped by all of them because they are so spread out!!!!

I hate those ****ing bastards! They've no right to even claim to be working for charity, as they all get a hefty percentage of how much they collect each day, then there's whatever their bosses get out of the overall, so very little of what you donate gets its way to charity at all.

nlgbbbblth

ixoy wrote:

charity worker

= use bullying and intimidation to extort money from people

avoid the chuggers at all costs

cross the street to avoid them and shout "I'm crossing the street to avoid you"

or
cover your face with a newspaper/anything

Trebor

nlgbbbblth wrote:

= use bullying and intimidation to extort money from people

avoid the chuggers at all costs

cross the street to avoid them and shout "I'm crossing the street to avoid you"

or
cover your face with a newspaper/anything

or just stop and say to them "You sicken me"

Lump

The Thing I love is when people throw a €20 note on the counter and say nothing, I look at it and say nothing, after a few minutes I question "What's this?" "Twenty Petrol", "No it's a 20 euro note, I'm guessing you want to pay me for petrol"

I'm probably the most ignorant cashier, however only when people are pricks to me, I've worked in a large norweigan petrol station for nearly six years, on a full time contract, am a supervisior but I only worked there on holidays from school college. Most people that comment on how rude I am relise after they leave the shop that they were **** and I was in the right, therefore dont complain. If people do complain, the managers tend not to care, I hate to tell you, YOU DO NOT PAY MY WAGES, YOU DO NOT KEEP THE COMPANY AFLOAT, YOU AREN'T THE BEST CUSTOMER IN THE SHOP BECAUSE YOU ARE IN THERE 15 TIMES A DAY SPENDING €3 EACH TIME.

I'll be honest if you are not a prick to me, I wont be a prick to you. I will however tell you to get the **** out of the shop and tell you I'm not a piece of **** and you'll never get served if you are going to be ignorant.

John

Lump

seamus wrote:

I only take the non-top copy of the paper, because the top one will usually be damaged/missing supplements/etc.

You realise that the papers come in Bundles of about 50, too many to load onto the stand easily at once, and hence all of the papers are mixed up. Also at 6.50am on a sunday, dont be banging on the shop door looking for a sunday times, the sunday times consists of 7 supplements, each of which has to be entered by hand in to the 200 papers the shop recieves in the morning, not to count the tabloids that require the mags to be put in. Demanding that you want a sunday times will not get me to **** the system of organisation in the ass to get it for you.

IT'S ****ING 7am on a sunday, GET A ****ING LIFE, come back in an hour.

Incidentally, I am not paid to kiss your backside, I am however paid to scan items on the till, say once how much it is, take cash from you, return the change if there is any, and say thank you. THAT IS ALL.

According to the law, I do not have to pack your bags, open the door, carry stuff out, load gas into the car when you have a 20 year old son sitting in the passenger seat etc etc etc.

John

Gordon

Whats the deal with taking the top paper? It doesn't make a difference to shopkeepers does it? They'll still have to snip off the top logo of the papers they didn't sell anyway.

Or would they? Is the annoyance at people not taking the top paper because the top paper gets left at the end and they have to nip off the top logo of that (and other damaged papers) hence staff have to do more work?

Inform please!

My experiences working in a bar:
"No, you have most definately not been waiting in the queue for half an hour, I know exactly how long you have been waiting and who you pushed in front of to get there."

"No, you weren't next, and hitting me on the forehead with your diamond ringed fist in annoyance at my ethics has just gotten you kicked out, and me a night off."

"That's an awful twitchy eye you have there. Anyway, here's your standard measure of vodka." hehe

"Oh great, more sick to clean up."

And I had a classic case in a call centre type job I had.
"Oh, you're black? I honestly didn't realise, but I can assure you, sir, that no matter what colour of skin your body has - it's our company policy to not accept credit cards over the phone, I can honestly say that skin colour has no bearing in this matter." .... "No sir, I can't make an exception just for you."

Actually I think that's my gripe with working in a job that deals with the general public. The fact that everybody thinks that they are particularly special. Not that I disagree with this as I believe everyone to be particularly beautiful if you want to look into them closely. But the fact that an unbelievably large amount of people will expect you to do them a favour and possibly lose your job over them - WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THEM BEFORE!!

seamus

Gordon wrote:

Actually I think that's my gripe with working in a job that deals with the general public. The fact that everybody thinks that they are particularly special. Not that I disagree with this as I believe everyone to be particularly beautiful if you want to look into them closely. But the fact that an unbelievably large amount of people will expect you to do them a favour and possibly lose your job over them - WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THEM BEFORE!!

Yeah, I'd say that's the main cause of general hatred of the public by customer service people, and general hatred of customer service people by the public - Every person thinks that the rules and policies should not apply to them, so instead of complaining about the policy to someone who gives a damn, they complain to the poor student on the other end of the phone because they're not being treated special.

seamus

Lump wrote:

You realise that the papers come in Bundles of about 50, too many to load onto the stand easily at once, and hence all of the papers are mixed up. Also at 6.50am on a sunday, dont be banging on the shop door looking for a sunday times, the sunday times consists of 7 supplements, each of which has to be entered by hand in to the 200 papers the shop recieves in the morning, not to count the tabloids that require the mags to be put in.

Aw bless. Don't like doing what you're being paid for? Quit and find something you enjoy, don't just bitch about it. I'm well aware that the supplements come separate from the papers. But getting one supplement into each paper hardly requires a college education. Anyway, my point is more to do with the theiving little bastards who steal it from the top copy.

Incidentally, I am not paid to kiss your backside, I am however paid to scan items on the till, say once how much it is, take cash from you, return the change if there is any, and say thank you. THAT IS ALL.

I'm sure there are plenty of suited executives and store managers who would disagree with you.

According to the law, I do not have to pack your bags, open the door, carry stuff out, load gas into the car when you have a 20 year old son sitting in the passenger seat etc etc etc.

All true John, but you sound like the last person who should be in any kind of public facing job. Sure, the public suck, but some people have the ability to ignore the assholes, and enjoy serving the nice people. You obviously just hate everyone equally. Quit and stop complaining. Hate getting up at 6am to sort out the papers? Quit. Hate being nice to people, doing something extra for nothing more than a smile and a thanks? Quit. As far as I'm concerned, if your job causes you to rant about how horrible it is, then you have no cause to rant, since you're free to leave whenever you wish.

I'm well aware that you're a student, but that's no excuse.

Kold

Gordon wrote:

Whats the deal with taking the top paper? It doesn't make a difference to shopkeepers does it? They'll still have to snip off the top logo of the papers they didn't sell anyway.

Or would they? Is the annoyance at people not taking the top paper because the top paper gets left at the end and they have to nip off the top logo of that (and other damaged papers) hence staff have to do more work?

Inform please!

My annoyance does not lie in the fact that they won't take the top paper. It's that they refuse to touch the paper. They grab the one under and attempt the japanese table cloth trick absolutely destroying the top paper and leaving the whole place in a mess.

impr0v

Lump wrote:

Incidentally, I am not paid to kiss your backside, I am however paid to scan items on the till, say once how much it is, take cash from you, return the change if there is any, and say thank you. THAT IS ALL.

According to the law, I do not have to pack your bags, open the door, carry stuff out, load gas into the car when you have a 20 year old son sitting in the passenger seat etc etc etc.

If I owned the particular franchise of the Norweigan Petrol Station that you work for, and I knew your attitude was the above, I'd fire your ass.

I don't, and I can't, and I'm sure you wouldn't give a <insert multiple asterix> what i think either.

It's about time apathy Ireland woke up and used their purchasing power as leverage to get better service.

This is Ireland, you're going to deal with ignorant people, it's inevitable. It would be great to be able to tell them to...

Lump wrote:

get the **** out of the shop and tell you I'm not a piece of **** and you'll never get served if you are going to be ignorant.

..but the problem is that ignorant money looks the same, smells the same and has the same redeemable value as courteous money. Do you think you are going to change their ways by doing the staring at the 20 note routine, or beating them at their own game? At best they'll forget about you in half an hour, re-immersed in their piggy little worlds, at worst they won't come back there again, or will tell a few neighbours about the so-called service at the station. You'll probably view that as a victory, but the owner's balance sheet won't. It might take time, but eventually it has to have an effect, even in this closed little market.

Sure, for the ignorant customers, don't bag their stuff, don't do anything over and above what you have to, they're the type of people who wouldn't even notice the extra effort anyway, but at least do it with a fake smile and without the counter-ignorance. Bagging, and the other things you mention are characteristics of a place that customers, given a choice, will go to and should be carried out, if necessary for courteous customers. It's not about what the law says you have to do, in that case every establishment would be the exact same, which isn't the case.

Again, I'm back to my first point, if you have difficulties putting up with the unpleasant sides of a job dealing with the great unwashed, as you obviously do, then why do such a job?

Gordon

Kold wrote:

My annoyance does not lie in the fact that they won't take the top paper. It's that they refuse to touch the paper. They grab the one under and attempt the japanese table cloth trick absolutely destroying the top paper and leaving the whole place in a mess.

Haha, yeah I guess that's annoying! But hey it must look really ridiculous to watch them, and fun to watch them to this whole palavour over the top paper. If I did that I'd just sit back and watch them, and I'd probably comment on it when they came up to the till.

"Hey, not bad Kiwisabe manouvre on the top paper there, you got that paper with only touching the bottom left corner of the top grubby one. If I could give you that for free, I would, but I can't."

Actually, if I said that I'd probably tell them. "You know, if you put that pile of papers back to the way you found them - I'll buy your paper today." Sure whats a euro when it gives you so much satisfaction.

Kold

People are getting this thread totally wrong. I don't hate my job. I hate the ignorant people that treat me with no respect. If people treat me with respect, I treat them with respect. If they bark orders at me, I don't have to be obliged to do anything I don't feel I have to.

impr0v

Gordon wrote:

Actually I think that's my gripe with working in a job that deals with the general public. The fact that everybody thinks that they are particularly special. Not that I disagree with this as I believe everyone to be particularly beautiful if you want to look into them closely. But the fact that an unbelievably large amount of people will expect you to do them a favour and possibly lose your job over them - WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THEM BEFORE!!

You have seen them before. You've seen them when you sold them the product or service that they called the call centre for support of. You've seen them before when you told them on that cheesy, heavy rotation advert that your product or service would change their lives. You've looked them in the eye and engendered trust and a friendly relationship every time they've seen your gently curved logo with bold type tagline. Brand managers spend millions to build up that illusion of a one to one relationship that those customers feel they have, to convince them that they are special to the company, that's why they expect special treatment. When they are talking to you you are the company, that someone who is there to build on that illusion of relationship, and bend a few rules for them if that's what it takes, they don't want to hear about the grim reality of it all.

Gordon

True! For the call centre. Although that doesn't apply to the TBMC where I worked! hehe

passive

on my way home earlier something happened that made me think of this thread... just as i was getting off the bus an old woman was saying to the driver how usually the time of the bus works out that she has to wait 20 minutes for her next bus but he'd been late (or something, i'm vague on details) so it worked out perfectly for her. then she asked how his day had been and he said awful and that she was the first person glad that he was running late, people had been complaining at him for a while. they chatted for a bit more and he thanked her for brightening up his day. she waved when she stepped off. i smiled. example of nice interaction between the public and staff brightening the moment for 3 people!

-the end

tba

Kold wrote:

People are getting this thread totally wrong. I don't hate my job. I hate the ignorant people that treat me with no respect. If people treat me with respect, I treat them with respect. If they bark orders at me, I don't have to be obliged to do anything I don't feel I have to.

I hate my job too Kold

the_syco

I read the top paper, but take the 2nd paper. Why? Cos the top paper would be all fuddled.

Chucky the tree

passive wrote:

on my way home earlier something happened that made me think of this thread... just as i was getting off the bus an old woman was saying to the driver how usually the time of the bus works out that she has to wait 20 minutes for her next bus but he'd been late (or something, i'm vague on details) so it worked out perfectly for her. then she asked how his day had been and he said awful and that she was the first person glad that he was running late, people had been complaining at him for a while. they chatted for a bit more and he thanked her for brightening up his day. she waved when she stepped off. i smiled. example of nice interaction between the public and staff brightening the moment for 3 people!

-the end

thats one thing i hate, people who give out to bus drivers about being latte. Its hardly the drivers for the traffic is bad, whats he supposed to do?

if people want to be early, they should leave early and walk!

jesus_thats_gre

The top paper is not of merchantable quality anyway.. Its always ripped etc but the shop owners are too tight to dispose of it or too dumb to just keep it aside and cut the head off later that night..

Karl Hungus

Christ, I can't beleive this thread is still going on.

You're all a bunch of ****ing whingebags! Especially Kold! "OH, whinge whinge, nobody took the top paper!"

I've gone through some insane ****ing **** working in Xtravision in yonder Westside, where the Anto's and Deco's rule! Annoying customers was the very least of my worries, as you'd get nightly incidents of Anto thinking it funny to push Deco into a stand of video cases, or trying to steal from the drop box, of at one stage Anto and Deco hurling video cases at us! I was there for 3 weeks before I packed it in.

Still though, there was many great times to be had! Like when we'd catch someone trying to steal videos from the drop box, a grab of the arm and a sharp pull would seriously make 'em think twice before trying that again!

ZENER

Evil begets evil !

If I come in to a shop where one of you guys work and you're there with a sour puss it's not my f***ing job to cheer you up and make you feel f***ing important. I'm there to buy the paper - petrol - groceries etc that I need and get home to the people I really do care about !

What's important here yet unacknowledged is that I'm the CUSTOMER in most circumstances and yes, as a matter of fact, I do pay your bloody wages - treat me with respect and I'll return to spend my equally hard earned money in your establishment.

Also remember that when we meet at a narrow impasse on an aisle in your place of employment that it is common courtesy to let the CUSTOMER proceed unhindered not for me to make way for you, remember - yes I do in fact pay your wages.

If I am coming home from work at 6:30 on Sunday morning after a 12 hour shift I couldn't care less if you've got a hangover and are pissed off because you have the difficult brain cell wrenching task of putting the supplements into the papers ! Also I'll take what ever f***ing paper I want from the pile. Why not make it easier for me and remove the top paper - or if it pi**es you off that much move it to the middle of the pile !

Here's a fact, I too work in a customer service industry. so :

I am always aware of who my real employer is - the CUSTOMER.

I am always courteous to my employers - the CUSTOMER.

I am always polite to my employers - the CUSTOMER.

I always appreciate that my CUSTOMERS may be frustrated with the layout of where I work - that it's not ideally set up or their requirements - that we are not all perfect so I make sure they leave with at least one positive feeling of my place of employment - my respect for them as human beings !!

When I'm doing my job I don't whinge in front of the customer - I make sure that the customer leaves with a positive view of my personality and employer at all times!

Here's the real point to this - if I told you where I worked you ALL would complain about the attitude presented where I work and give out yards about the treatment you receive from us but not one of you would think of how you would like to be treated under the circumstances.

The important thing is that I understand that my CUSTOMERS are paying for the service I provide and therefore have a right to expect a certain level of respect and service. So the next time someone jumps to the front of the cue with a 20 spot for petrol, say to yourself - well fair f***ing play to ya for having the balls to do it, if it was a good lookin' woman you probably wouldn't give a toss !!!

That's all !

ZEN

ApeXaviour

ZENER wrote:

Why not make it easier for me and remove the top paper - or if it pi**es you off that much move it to the middle of the pile !

Haha I don't think you thought that one through.
Wouldn't it be a bit futile?

ZENER

. . perhaps not - although moving the top paper to the middle may give you a sad sense of satisfaction in a voyeristic sense.

ZEN

Lump

TBH, I serve around 1000 people in one day, only a couple of them irritate me, hence I wouldn't quit my good paying job, you'd be suprised. I am only ranting because of the thread subject, I didn't start the bitching. And as kold already pointed out, I don't hate my job I just hate ignorant people. People that think they are better then you. Impr0v, I work for the norweigan government. And incidentally I am quitting my job because it's startign to piss me off so much, oh, I'm going to work in the BBC where hopefully I won't have to deal with arrogant pricks like you. Then again if I can hack 5 years in statoil I think I can hack this.


John

Kold

ZENER wrote:

Evil begets evil !

If I come in to a shop where one of you guys work and you're there with a sour puss it's not my f***ing job to cheer you up and make you feel f***ing important. I'm there to buy the paper - petrol - groceries etc that I need and get home to the people I really do care about !

You don't have to cheer me up, however, if you píss me off I'll probably serve that 4 year old who has no concept of money wondering what to do with their 5euro note before you.

ZENER wrote:

What's important here yet unacknowledged is that I'm the CUSTOMER in most circumstances and yes, as a matter of fact, I do pay your bloody wages - treat me with respect and I'll return to spend my equally hard earned money in your establishment.

I get paid the same wages whether I please arrogant up-their-own-arsé cúnts like you or not. I could simply say you're barred. I have that influence.

ZENER wrote:

Also remember that when we meet at a narrow impasse on an aisle in your place of employment that it is common courtesy to let the CUSTOMER proceed unhindered not for me to make way for you, remember - yes I do in fact pay your wages.

Again mate. No you don't. You are not my knight in shining armour giving to the poor. This job is merely to give me beer money whilst in university. I could go back to drug dealing I guess. Much better customers.

ZENER wrote:

If I am coming home from work at 6:30 on Sunday morning after a 12 hour shift I couldn't care less if you've got a hangover and are pissed off because you have the difficult brain cell wrenching task of putting the supplements into the papers ! Also I'll take what ever f***ing paper I want from the pile. Why not make it easier for me and remove the top paper - or if it pi**es you off that much move it to the middle of the pile !

The top paper is so called because it is the paper at the top. I think you'll find people won't take it whether ripped or not.

ZENER wrote:

Here's a fact, I too work in a customer service industry. so :

I am always aware of who my real employer is - the CUSTOMER.

I am always courteous to my employers - the CUSTOMER.

I am always polite to my employers - the CUSTOMER.

I am a moody teenager who is working in a job that isn't so bad bar a few exceptions involving ignorant assholes who try to justify the fact that they are indeed assholes by saying that I'm doing a bad job. Other customers praise how nice and how helpful I am. I don't know. I must be prejudiced.

ZENER wrote:

I always appreciate that my CUSTOMERS may be frustrated with the layout of where I work - that it's not ideally set up or their requirements - that we are not all perfect so I make sure they leave with at least one positive feeling of my place of employment - my respect for them as human beings !!

So customers are human and people working aren't... Is this your half assed point?

ZENER wrote:

When I'm doing my job I don't whinge in front of the customer - I make sure that the customer leaves with a positive view of my personality and employer at all times!

When a customer doesn't care about their own behaviour, the can feel the edge of mine.

ZENER wrote:

The important thing is that I understand that my CUSTOMERS are paying for the service I provide and therefore have a right to expect a certain level of respect and service. So the next time someone jumps to the front of the cue with a 20 spot for petrol, say to yourself - well fair f***ing play to ya for having the balls to do it, if it was a good lookin' woman you probably wouldn't give a toss !!!

No, I would, I couldn't respect anyone who did that. You do not pay a service charge. I am paid by my employer. So the next time you jump into the front of the line, say to yourself "I'm a fúcking moron with no respect for other people." Don't be surprised if I ignore you and serve the person who is next.

Lump

Plus not only is it ignorant to the person working, you are being an ignorant to the person you are skipping, another customer, to whom you are paying **** all. And good looking women tend not to skip queue. Imagine skipping the queue in the bank, I'm sure you'd be loved if you ****ed €20 euro across the counter and while walking out the door shouting back Lodge that....


John